3.5 stars. I think McGinnis is an excellent writer, and I am blown away at all of the very different style of books she's written (contemporary, historical fiction, thrillers, and more). Overall I enjoyed this series, but it is definitely a bit far-fetched for me at times (particularly the final climax of this book). I am still on the fence as to my opinion on the inclusion on the animal point-of-view, but I do think it worked better in this book than in the first book in the series. I loved the depth of the characters, and the character arcs across both books was well done. McGinnis is definitely a go to author for me, and I can't wait to see what else she writes!

The story picks up pretty much right where The Initial Insult ended. Tress is in a bad way physically and mentally throughout the book. Not only is her duct taped arm majorly infected, she’s also not sure which of her experiences are hallucinations and which are real. I loved the unreliable narrator aspect during her POV chapters and really felt her confusion and determination. Ribbit’s POVs were pretty dark and slowly let the reader in on more of the book’s secrets. He also had an unreliable narrator aspect to his POVs with how much he appeared to unravel as the plot progressed. I really loved how these two drove the plot and furthered the story. The author also included Rue’s POV and, though it took me some time to get into that frame of mind, I enjoyed those portions of the story. It was neat to see everything from a little distance but still with such emotion behind the telling.

I truly can’t say much about the plot because so much happens and seeing it all develop was so much fun. I don’t want to take that away from anyone who plans on reading this. What I will say is there are quite a few twists that I didn’t see coming. The plot and character development in this book are both really great and work seamlessly together until everything explodes for a pretty crazy finale.

I think I liked this book more than the first book because everything felt a little more chaotic, desperate, and intense in all the best ways. I would definitely recommend this duology!

This book was absolutely fantastic. I've already added it to our list for order this year and will recommend it to students.

I loved this so much better than The Initial Insult! As with The Initial Insult, there is a point of view of the book from an animal which is so interesting and I preferred this animal over the panther. It felt more intense this time around. I also liked the perspective of Ribbit this time around, I thought it also added some color to a lot of what happened in the first book. I was not expecting the final conclusion but oh so satisfied with how it played out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Katherine Tegen books for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. This book was the continuing story of Tress Montor, the drug dealing, orphan outcast of Amontillado. When we left Tress at the end of the first book, Tress had been hurt by a panther on the loose and - most importantly - killed her best friend. This book follows what happens to Tress in the following days, as well as offering the additional POV of her cousin, Kermit. I really enjoyed the dark, gritty writing that had some twists and turns that I was not expecting.

The Last Laugh picks up where The Initial Insult left off, so definitely don't read this without reading the first book. Tress Montor is breaking down - both physically and mentally - after being injured during her revenge plot against Felicity Turnado, but she's still seeking answers to the question that is ruining her life: what happened to her parents?

I was DYING at the end of The Initial Insult, so I was super jazzed to read The Last Laugh and find out what would happen next. I love everything Mindy McGinnis writes -- she has created some of my favorite smart, furious young women characters -- and I appreciate that she always manages to include some deeply gross content (maggots this time - aaagh) that is upsetting and perfect. This was not my favorite McGinnis book ever, but it ties up the unanswered questions from the first book really well.

The Last Laugh picks up where The Initial Insult (SPOILERS AHEAD) left off; Tress Montour has a deadly wound on her arm from the loose Panther, Felicity Turnado is trapped behind a brick wall in the basement of a house about to be demolished, and Ribbit Usher has been humiliated on social media in a video of him drunk, naked and being a little too honest about anything he’s asked. In this sequel, McGinnis retells Poe’s stories “Hop-Frog” and “The Tell-Tale Heart.”

Tress Montour is pretty sure she is dying; if she went to the hospital they could definitely save her, but that is not an option, because then everyone in town would know that the panther really is loose and that would mean trouble for Tress and Cecil (her grandfather). So, instead of going to the hospital Tress takes some of the Oxys that she sells and tracks the infection with a pen mark. She’s most definitely dying, but she can try to solve the mystery of her parents disappearance once and for all before does.

Ribbit Usher knows what happened to Tress’ parents, he (and his mother) were responsible after all. That night that they killed Tress’ parents was also the first and only time he stood up to his mother in order to save Felicity Turnado’s life. Now he believes that Felicity is his destiny; they will share their lives, filling the Usher house with a bunch of baby Ushers. Unfortunately, Felicity has gone missing and finding her is proving a bit more difficult than he expected. Worse, when he saved Felicity, Ribbit made a deal that he would kill Tress before she turns 18, and her birthday is mere days away. Worse still, the video of him drunk at the party has gone viral and he has to deal with the police, the school and the media getting in his business. But Ribbit Usher has a plan; he is going to get what he wants, please his mother, and get revenge on his bullies.

I can’t say that I liked The Initial Insult all that much (read my review here), but there was no way I was skipping the sequel after they way it ended. I liked The Last Laugh even less. I basically hate read the entire thing. Granted, despite my dislike for this book, it still kept me hooked until the end. I was invested enough in the story that I needed to know how it ended, so it does have that going for it. The problem both of these novels had is that they are trying too hard. I was already used to the forced Poe names, so that bothered me less this time around, but it felt like McGinnis was trying to emulate the the twisty, over the top, dark nature of Poe’s horror stories, and it just failed. There was way too much going on, the writing was gruesome just for the sake of being gruesome rather than having a purpose, and none of the “surprises” were actually a surprise. And then, despite trying so hard to emulate Poe, McGinnis gives us a happy ending! What a let down.

Obviously The Last Laugh is a must read for those who read The Initial Insult. But that is the only reason to read this one. At least we know how the story ends now.

The secrets of Amontillado come to light in this second installment of McGinnis's dark and twisty reworking of Edgar Allan Poe's classic tales of mystery and the grotesque.

While Tress Montor attempts to cover up her actions from The Initial Insult and their consequences, the town of Amontillado attempts to keep strong in the search for a missing girl while the Homecoming celebrations loom ever closer. The tight timeline and short chapters in alternating points-of-view keep this novel at a thundering pace, leaving the reader breathless when the shocking conclusion comes to light.

McGinnis knows how to illustrate a devastating scene and there are parts that made me cringe, but I had to know how it all turns out!

Tress Montor has a few problems…her grandfather’s panther escaped and clawed her arm which is now infected, and her (former) best friend Felicity has been missing since the big party at the abandoned mansion. Ribbit Usher has finally wormed his way into the popular group and is determined to find Felicity and exact revenge…but his mom expects him to take care of the problem that is Tress Montor…

I LOVED this book. It was just crazy pants from start to finish, and I could not put it down. McGinnis expertly weaves Poe’s tales The Fall of the House of Usher, The Tell Tale Heart, and the lesser known Hop Frog together into a cohesive masterpiece. If you love books that make you yell “WHAT THE HECK?” Over and over, definitely read this book. The twists and turns will keep you guessing until the end, and will leave you wanting more tales from Amontillado, Ohio.

WOW. I truly have no idea what to say about this, especially if I'm avoiding spoilers. I intentionally saved it for when I'd be able to read it in more or less one sitting, and that was absolutely the right choice. There were multiple points that I had to stop reading because it was too intense, but the breaks only lasted about five minutes each because I just had to know what happened next! If you like books that mess with your head in the best way, you absolutely need to read Mindy McGinnis.

CW: graphic serious injury, deaths (including family member deaths), missing person, underage drinking and drug use, drug dealing, bullying, past parental death, past infidelity, mistreatment of animals

Whoa. WHOA!

This book blew the first one out of the water. Ms McGinnis really really didn’t pull any punches. It was gross and crazy and just like a train wreck you couldn’t look away from. Or a ride you really don’t want to end. I can say even tho she makes some truest disposable choices we can help but root for Tress.

This is one that I think would be amazing to reread and just go straight from the first to the conclusion without a year break. I am jealous of anyone who didn’t have that wait after the way book one ended.

Thank you for the review copy NetGalley and the publisher.

A nice conclusion to The Initial Insult. We got to see into Ribbits mind. What happened to her parents became more apparent. I really enjoyed the ending.

If you liked The Initial Insult due to its weird and violent tale about friends torn apart by tragedy, then you're likely to enjoy this sequel. It ramps up everything from the first book and turns the gas on the crazy. My rating is based on how much fun this book was to read - and it is SO. MUCH. FUN. Just when I think it couldn't get crazier, it does. It’s Riverdale but with a backwoods wild animal sanctuary, former rich families pretending they’re still fancy, a runaway panther, and plots of murder.

I loved every moment of it. Yes, there are probably giant plot holes. New information comes out from left field more than once. Convenient revelations push the plot along. None of this matters though bc this book is SO MUCH BANANA PANTS FUN!

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for advanced eBook review copy of ‘The Last Laugh’ by Mindy McGinnis. Thoughts and opinions are my own.

I’m so pleased that I got to read the sequel to ‘The Initial Insult.’ I’d been so curious to find out the truth behind all the tangled questions in the first story. The conclusion definitely answered those questions in a satisfying way. It also didn’t give the answers too soon which had me wanting to keep reading. I flew through this one!

I think this duology would be interesting to teach in an English class in order to explore all the Poe references. I don’t have a ton of Poe knowledge but I feel that I picked up on a lot. These two stories would be well worth a reread now that I have the full picture of how the pieces and players come together.

I did find myself missing the cat POV but it wouldn’t have made sense to have that in this book as there’s the question of how much of the cat’s appearance is in Tress’ head or not. I don’t think Rue’s POV added as much and it came off repetitive at times. I also missed Felicity’s POV but that would have messed with the pacing so I understand why we didn’t get any more glimpses of the past from Felicity’s POV. Ribbit was an interesting new POV and I’m glad we didn’t get him viewpoint in the first book. That being said, I feel like the bullying aspect of the story was kind of muddied a bit. Bullying is such a big and complicated issue and I wasn’t sure the takeaway from this story was a great one.

The action in this story was dialed up compared to the first. Since the first takes place in largely the same setting of the party for most of the story it was nice to expand on the few familiar places in this story. The gross scenes were also on another level but they made sense for the story and didn’t bother me too much. They were definitely strongly written but I’ve also read ‘Be Not Far From Me’ by the same author so I was kind of prepared for that.

Overall, I thought this was a strong story that delivered on the answers from the first book. I did enjoy the first book a bit more but I thought the story as a whole came together well. I do feel like maybe Tress could have come out of the story a bit worse off than she did at the end.

4/5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC e-book. Holy cow- lots to unpack here. The second book of this duology was quite a ride, and I will say that I was riveted the majority of the time. The first book ended on such a cliffhanger that I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the second one. I would have liked more on Felicity in this book as well, but that wasn’t really an option the majority of the time. I also enjoyed the new third (non-human) narrator’s part much more this time. At times, I felt like events stretched into unbelievable territory, but overall it was a good read and satisfying ending (maybe-still could continue the story).

4.5 stars, rounded up

holy cow this was dark. mindy mcginnis is so gifted at exploring the darkest parts of people

I hated every single character in this duology. everyone was so messed up and unapologetic and operating on their own hateful agenda. everyone was just nasty

you find out pretty early in the last laugh who killed tress's parents, but the motives come out as you go along. I thought the story was well paced. some of the big reveals didn't shock me as much as they were supposed to since the entire book was so batshit crazy that nothing could be surprising lol

overall: I'm glad I don't live in amontillado. there must be something in the water there. the initial insult and the last laugh will leave you feeling icky, but they are definitely worth reading if you're looking for a darker ya read

This is tricky for me to review, I hadn't read the first book in the series and was hoping I could just jump in and follow it. I sort of could but it was also a challenge, wish I had read the first book before this one. But it was a wild twisted ride and worth the read

This was an excellent display of emanating Poe. McGinnis has a writing style that modernizes yet mimics the mood and tone of all of Edgar Allen Poe’s characters. The darkness is heavy and weighs down the entire novel. It’s perfection. That heaviness keeps the story moving, even when it seems impossible. Overall, Tress proves herself to be a likable unreliable narrator. I didn’t think The Initial Insult needed a follow up, but the duo is a masterpiece!

The Last Laugh was certainly the dark and twisted conclusion I was hoping for from this duology! I can't say I ever loved Tress but she was certainly a badass in The Last Laugh. As with The Initial Insult this book was definitely a slow burn yet had a lot of crazy things going on as well. From explosions to deaths to secrets unburied this was certainly a wild ride. I think readers will be very pleased with how everything unfolds and it is most certainly a crazy read.

What a duology.

Picking up where The Initial Insult left off, this book starts with a boy under his mother's thumb, a panther on the loose, parents still missing, a girl behind a brick wall, and her punisher mauled.

Tress is trying to come to terms with her actions in the last book that gave her nothing but three long gashes down her arm from a panther. She still has questions, so she digs into her parent's past in order to find answers before the infection from the wound takes her. Meanwhile, we see a new narrator in her cousin, Ribbit, who shows us a side readers were not privy to in the first book. Driven by passion for Felicity and orders from his mother, Ribbit has his own agenda to complete. I feel like that's all I can really say to not give away too much in this dark and twisty story. The characters are solid and the story is so compelling, I just blew through this to see what will happen next. Definitely recommend this for anyone who loves dark stories where there are no good guys.